Russia’s Justice Ministry has added the “International Public Movement for the Protection of Voters’ Rights Golos” to its list of “undesirable” organizations. According to former representatives of Golos, however, no organization by that name has ever existed.
The ministry’s website says the Prosecutor General’s Office declared the group “undesirable” on June 30, 2026. The Justice Ministry entered it into the register on July 13, but the move only became publicly known on July 17. The register does not list a country of registration or any other identifying details. No reasons for the decision were disclosed.
What is known about Golos
The Golos Association was founded in 2000 and for many years monitored elections in Russia. In 2013 it was added to the register of “foreign agent” NGOs, and in 2016 it was liquidated by court order. At the same time, in 2013, members of the association created the Golos Movement for the Protection of Voters’ Rights without forming a legal entity and continued election monitoring work.
The movement was part of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), which Russia declared “undesirable” in September 2021. After that, Golos leadership said it would suspend its membership in the network. Later that same year, the movement itself was added to the register of unregistered “foreign agent” organizations.
In May 2025, movement co-chair Grigory Melkonyants was sentenced to five years in prison for organizing the activities of an “undesirable” organization. Investigators claimed Golos had remained linked to ENEMO and that Melkonyants had led it. Against that backdrop, in July 2025, Golos announced that it was ending its work, warning that any participation in its activities could now result in criminal liability.
The discrepancy
“I personally do not understand what kind of movement this is. None of my former colleagues whom I managed to speak to created anything like this or planned to. There is nothing like it in the public sphere either,” said former Golos co-chair Stanislav Andreychuk.
According to him, the register now refers to some “international Golos movement”, even though in Russia the structure had officially been known as an “all-Russian movement.” In other words, the authorities have declared “undesirable” an organization that had already ceased operating and, according to former participants, never existed under that name.
Russian courts have previously labeled unconfirmed or nonexistent structures as “extremist,” including the “International LGBT Social Movement,” the “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” and the “International Social Movement A.U.E.”